This invention relates to an insulated sectional door, such as a residential garage door, and its method of assembly. More specifically, this invention relates to such a door wherein the insulation is attached thereto without the need for gluing or the use of separate fasteners.
Sectional doors, such as garage doors or the like, are typically formed with hinged panels having opposed, spaced sheets or skins of material, with preferably an insulation material positioned therebetween. Such panels are not conveniently manufactured in that the insulation must be firmly adhered to the skins to form an integral unit. In some instances the front and rear skins are preheated and have a hot melt adhesive applied thereto. Then the core made of an insulation material is placed between the skins, and the assembly is passed through pinch rollers to assure adhesion of the components. In another process, a polyurethane foam may be sprayed into the area between the skins and then, when heated, the foam expands to fill the volume of space between the skins.
These methods of manufacturing of an insulated door not only add to the costs thereof, but also they have additional disadvantages. For example, such doors will have a predetermined, fixed quantity of insulation and, as such, in order for the retail establishment to be able to satisfy varying customer demands regarding the desired quantity of insulation, it will have to inventory a large number of doors. Moreover, oftentimes a customer may want to increase the insulation in his door, but such cannot be accomplished. Thus, in such instances, and in other instances such as door damage, rather than being able to replace the insulation, a new door must be purchased.
As a result of these drawbacks, a door having panels without insulation, that is, a door with just one skin, and commonly known as a pan door, has become popular. The advantage of such pan doors is that a door retailer or installer need only stock one type of door while at the same time carrying skin-backed insulation sheets of varying sizes. Thus, when a door is sold, the retailer can install the amount of insulation desired by the customer in the door, selected from his inventory of skin-backed insulation sheets.
The drawback of the pan doors is that currently a separate component must be utilized to attach the desired insulation to the pan door. Typical separate components are clips, brackets or the like, or glue. The problem with glue is that a solvent-based glue cannot be utilized, otherwise the foam insulation would deteriorate. Thus, any glue which would be suitable is slow drying, often requiring days of drying before the door could be installed. The slow drying nature of the glue also prohibits changing the existing insulation of a customer at the site.
Oftentimes installers will add clips to the door to retain the insulation while the glue is drying so that the door can be installed before the glue is dry, but such not only adds to the cost of the product, but also renders the door subject to other problems created by the clip fasteners. These problems include the fact that clips may loosen and, unless also properly glued, the door may separate during use or, at a minimum, become very noisy. Moreover, with the use of only clip fasteners, the foam will not be compressed which is a requirement for sound deadening.
Some attempts have been made to utilize the side rails of the door panel as the component which provides the means by which the foam may be attached. In these situations, the rails are provided with an undercut to receive the edges of the foam insulation material. However, that form must be bent in an arc for insertion between the rails, and such is only possible with thinner, more rigid, foams. When thicker insulation is desired, the foam material must be more flexible, rendering it more difficult to be retained in a moving door. Thus, in these instances, retaining brackets or straps may have to be added. Even then, without proper compression of the foam, the problems of a lack of sound deadening and foam loosening may well exist in these doors just as in the doors where the foam is clipped in place.
The only known system which may allow the foam to be installed or changed on site provides a foam sheet with a backing material that is peripherally larger than the foam at the location of the rails of the panels. However, unless a further retention device such as glue is employed, thermal expansion and contraction of the foam and its backing will loosen the fit thereof to the point where the foam and backing could fall out of the door.
Thus, the need exists for an overhead door with insulation that can be installed in the field without the need for any additional fasteners or fastening materials such as glue or the like.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide garage doors or the like which can be provided with insulation without the use of any separate fastening device.
It is another object of the present invention to provide garage doors, as above, which do not require glue to be assembled and which can therefore be put into service immediately after assembly.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide garage doors, as above, which can be assembled with differing insulation characteristics and yet only one style of door needs to be stocked by the retailer.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide garage doors, as above, which can be assembled in the field with various sizes of insulation without the need to change any other door component.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide garage doors, as above, in which the insulation is held compressed in place so that it will not loosen to cause deterioration of the door.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide garage doors, as above, in which thicker sheets of insulation can be used even under the compression conditions.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide garage doors, as above, which can be quickly assembled.
These and other objects of the present invention, as well as the advantages thereof over existing prior art forms, which will become apparent from the description to follow, are accomplished by the improvements hereinafter described and claimed.
In general, a door made in accordance with the concepts of the present invention includes a plurality of panels, each of which includes opposed rails and a faceplate extending laterally between the rails. A sheet of insulation material has lateral edges positioned adjacent to the rails. A backing sheet is attached to the sheet of insulation material and has lateral edges which overhang the lateral edges of the insulation sheet such that the lateral edges of the backing sheet engage the rails to hold the insulation sheet against the faceplate.
In accordance with the present invention, a sectional door panel includes a pair of spaced rails with at least two stiles extending between the rails. A faceplate is integral with and extends between the rails and overlies the stiles. An insulating sheet extends between the stiles and proximate the rails. Means associated with the insulating sheet are provided to engage the rails to maintain the insulating sheet pressed against the faceplate.
Also in accordance with the present invention, a method of assembling a door having laterally spaced rails and a faceplate extending therebetween includes the steps of attaching a backing sheet to a sheet of insulation material, with the backing sheet having lateral edges overhanging the lateral edges of the sheet of insulation material, and engaging the rails with the lateral edges of the backing sheet to press the sheet of insulation material against the faceplate.
The present invention also contemplates a method of installing insulation into a door having a faceplate with lateral edges defined by rails and longitudinal edges defined by stiles. The insulation material has a backing sheet which overhangs the lateral edges of the material. The insulation material is installed by positioning its longitudinal edges adjacent to the stiles and by positioning the overhanging portion of the backing sheet into engagement with the rails which deforms the overhanging portion thereby pressing the insulation material against the faceplate.
A preferred exemplary overhead garage door incorporating the concepts of the present invention is shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings without attempting to show all the various forms and modifications in which the invention might be embodied, the invention being measured by the appended claims and not by the details of the specification.